Leadership and Service Core Program Area

Leadership and Service has been a foundational area for the Boys & Girls Club Movement since the start, helping youth build critical leadership skills so they can contribute to the community in meaningful ways. 

Leadership and Service programs increase members’ motivation to become leaders and inspire others; their ability to use leadership skills to create meaningful change; and their confidence in seeing themselves as leaders. All programs build core competencies across age groups in three primary domains: self-leadership, leadership with others, and leadership in the community.

Leadership and Service Skills

Self-Leadership

Know oneself; understand thoughts/feelings and be able to manage them; empower oneself to act

• Self-Awareness
• Self-Advocacy
• Goal-Setting
• Identifying and Solving Problems
• Evaluating

Leadership With Others

Be able to engage and communicate with diverse groups of people – with different perspectives and in different settings – in order to create meaning together and inspire others

• Communication
• Collaboration With Peers
• Collaboration With Adults
• Empathy
• Perspective-Taking
• Conflict Management
• Goal-Setting
• Identifying and Solving Problems
• Evaluating

Leadership in the Community

Build relationships across different systems in order to bring groups together for a shared goal

• Inclusion
• Social Responsibility
• Goal-Setting
• Identifying and Solving Problems
• Evaluating

The Youth Development Professional's Role in Leadership Development

Your role in developing leadership is to provide a safe and positive environment to encourage youth and support them in skill building. Club professionals create opportunities for youth to develop a sense of belonging, recognize accomplishments and help them build relationships with their peers.

Use a Youth-Centered Focus

Club Professionals should use youth-centered approaches to reframe conflict, acknowledging young people’s feelings and helping them see the connection between their emotions, behaviors and consequences to help identify their own solutions. Club professionals should support leadership development by asking effective questions, listening actively, encouraging, and modeling successful action.

Ask, Listen and Encourage to Support All Youth as Leaders

Club staff can support leadership development and demonstrate a belief in all youth as leaders by using the Ask, Listen and Encourage model:

• Ask is about using open-ended questions – such as “How did that work for you?” or “What could you have done differently?” – to build members’ critical thinking. With this strategy, you also balance questions with comments and conversation to engage youth fully in their own learning.
• Listen is about letting youth speak, getting to know them and making meaningful connections so you know how they feel. It also involves showing your support for members by remembering the details and context of their lives.
• Encourage involves participating alongside youth – asking them to discuss their plans, feelings and goals – as you give honest feedback on their decisions and actions. This strategy is about encouraging youth to succeed without judging or correcting them.¹

Practice Positive Youth Development to Create Inclusive Clubs

In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs must create safe, positive and inclusive environments for youth of every race, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, religion or cultural belief. By creating inclusive environments at our Clubs, we improve the overall experience for all young people. When youth development professionals use the Five Key Elements for Positive Youth Development, we help ensure all youth:

• Feel represented
• Have a sense of belonging
• Can meaningfully participate in programing

As you facilitate these activities, consider strategies that help youth feel affirmed and engaged with Club experiences that meet their needs and abilities.

To access more information on building and sustaining an inclusive environment visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics BLUEprint."

Positive Youth Development Supports Character and Social-Emotional Development

Boys & Girls Clubs support Good Character and Citizenship as one of our three priority outcome areas. Character is the way one behaves when no one is looking. In Boys & Girls Clubs, we seek to build six character traits, as defined by CHARACTER COUNTS! They are: respect, fairness, trustworthiness, responsibility, caring and citizenship.² When YDPs and youth practice skills and exhibit behaviors related to character, they are on their way to enjoying positive experiences, relationships and environments. One of the most important staff roles is to set the expectation for character and show youth what these qualities look like in action. These character traits come to life when staff members model them consistently.

Positive youth development provides direction for how you interact with, engage and model behavior for youth. You get to shape the lives of young people every day. As a result, you set the expectations and show youth what the essential character traits – caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness – mean and how they look. These character traits come to life when youth practice social and emotional skills like teamwork, conflict management and emotional regulation. Young people use skills to lead themselves and others, as well as demonstrate positive attributes in citizenship, like community engagement and voting.

You can start to build character using “caught and taught” approaches. Youth “catch” social-emotional development skills when they observe staff modeling appropriate behaviors and skills, and when they interact with peers. Youth can also be “taught” skills to build good character when the skills are explicitly introduced and practiced through program lessons and activities. Use this formula to understand how character develops over time:

Staff Model Good Character + Youth Practice Skills Regularly = Character Development

To build character traits, include many opportunities for youth to practice social-emotional development skills. These include:

• How youth feel about themselves
• Their relationships with others
• Their ability to manage emotions
• Their ability to make positive choices and solve problems
• Their ability to set and work toward future goals

For more information, see the reference handout, Practicing Social-Emotional Development Skills to Achieve Character Development, in Program Basics. It will show you the specific social-emotional development skills young people should practice in order to demonstrate positive behaviors as described by the six character essential traits.

Leadership Development Programs and Resources

BGCA offers developmentally appropriate programs and resources to develop leadership motivation, ability and confidence in members ages 6-9 years, 10-12 years and 13-15 years. All are available for download from BGCA.net.

Middle to Late Childhood 

Ages 6-9 and 10-12 

• Youth of the Month
• Service Recipe Activity Guide 
• Vol 1 Service Recipe Activity Guide 
• Vol 2 Youth Service Activity Guide

Early Adolescence/Tween 

Ages 10-12 and 13-15 

• Junior Youth of the Year
• Torch Club Advisor’s Manual and Targeted Program Guide 
• Teens Take the Lead
• Youth of the Month
• Service Recipe Activity Guide Vol. 1 
• Service Recipe Activity Guide Vol. 2 
• Youth Service Activity Guide

Adolescence/Teen

Ages 13-15 and 16-18 

• Keystone National Project Guide 
• Youth of the Year
• Junior Youth of the Year 
• Torch Club Curriculum 
• Teens Take the Lead 
• Youth of the Month
• Service Recipe Activity Guide Vol. 1
• Service Recipe Activity Guide Vol. 2

Overview of Youth Service Activity Guide

The Youth Service Activity Guide is part of the Million Members, Million Hours of Service (MMMHS) initiative, which is designed to give every member a chance to participate in year-round service activities.

Purpose of the Guide

The purpose of the Youth Service Activity Guide is to bring together small groups of youth to introduce them to important leadership topics – personal, interpersonal and global – and engage them in activities that will help them learn how to make positive and meaningful change in their communities. The activities in this guide are intended as one-time exploratory experiences for 6- to 9- and 10- to 12-year-old members. They can be implemented in any program area of a Club any day of the year.

Like all of BGCA’s Leadership and Service programs, the Youth Service Activity Guide focuses on the development of leadership and service skills: self-leadership; leadership with others; and leadership in the community. In addition, the activities stress important service-learning competencies: investigation and research; planning and preparation; goal-setting and action steps; reflection; and presentation. Finally, members gain civic-engagement competencies: being involved in real-world experiences, developing their voices, and seeing themselves as agents of change in their Club and community.

Leadership Competencies

Like all BGCA Leadership and Service programs, the Youth Service Activity Guide develops competencies – both social-emotional and leadership/service skills – in three separate domains. Here are examples of how the activities specifically build these competencies.

• Self-Leadership: Through the activities, members have opportunities to become aware of their own beliefs and interests, to speak up and articulate them and to share their unique points of view.
• Leadership With Others: In collaborating with peers (and an adult advisor) working toward a shared goal, members learn to listen to others’ perspectives, to respect their opinions, to negotiate when there is a conflict, to share accountability, and contribute to decision-making and problem-solving.
• Leadership in the Community: Members have the chance to work with individuals and groups, fostering an appreciation of diversity and the importance of inclusion. They also learn to take action on important issues and develop a sense of social responsibility as they see the impact of their efforts in making a difference in the community.

Resources

The following BGCA resources provide ongoing support for these activities.

• Teens Take the Lead: Implementing service-learning projects
• Service Recipe Guides: Getting youth engaged in their communities

Using This Guide

The Youth Service Activity Guide is designed as an introduction to critical leadership issues youth face today – personal, interpersonal and global – providing engaging, hands-on opportunities to explore each topic.

While the activities in this guide do appear in numerical order, you can choose any activity to start with. Each one is designed to be implemented as a stand-alone experience lasting approximately 45 to 60 minutes. For each leadership topic, activities are included for youth ages 6-9 and ages 10-12. Although individual activities suggest target age levels, each activity may be used with other age groups as determined by Club staff. With a mixed-age group, you can decide which activity best fits the needs of youth. In some cases, you may need to provide extra support for younger members or encourage older members to assist as needed.

Leadership Topics

All activities focus on building skills in one of three domains: self-leadership, leadership with others and leadership in the community. Members develop skills by exploring the following essential topics.

Self-Leadership (Personal)

• Health and Wellness 
• Gratitude
• Character and Values
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Leadership With Others (Interpersonal)

• Kindness
• Peacefulness 
• Fairness and Justice
• Appreciation of Difference

Leadership in the Community (Global) 

• Life on Land
• Life Under Water
• Affordable and Clean Energy 
• Responsible Consumption

Activity Components

Each topic area detailed above includes an activity. Each activity includes the following.

• Background and Preparation: An overview of information needed to implement the activities
  • Goal: Specific learning goals for the activities
  • Time Requirements: Time frame to implement the activity (45-60 minutes)
  • Materials Needed: All items needed to complete the activity
  • Handouts: Handouts and resources needed
  • Preparation: Steps to complete to prepare for the activity
  • Leadership Skills: Leadership skills developed in the activity
  • Key Terms: Vocabulary reinforced through the activity
  • Links to Resources: Links to additional resources that may be helpful
• Before the Activity: Welcome and Icebreaker: Brief, “getting-ready” experiences for the group
  • Warm Welcome: A reminder to connect with each youth before the activity
  • Community Builder: A three- to five-minute icebreaker to engage the group, lay the groundwork for the activity, and create an environment for learning and exploration

The instructional materials for each activity offer detailed guidelines for implementing with youth:

• Activity Instructions: Step-by-step instructions for leading youth through the activity
  • Main Activity: A few comments to introduce the topic and activity
  • Step-by-Step Process to Implement Activity: Detailed steps for facilitating the activity
• After the Activity: Helpful guidelines for concluding the activity meaningfully 
  • Youth Reflection: A three- to five-minute reflection that helps youth affirm what they’ve learned
  • Recognition: A brief activity to allow youth to recognize each other’s support and help
  • Closing and Transition: A reminder about closing out the activity and guiding youth as they move on to the next area

Preparing to Implement the Activities

Although the activities are designed to be easy-to-implement, stand-alone experiences that can be integrated into any program area of the Club any day of the year, you will have more success if you take time to prepare for implementing them. Here is an overview of what you will need:

• Activity Time: 45-60 minutes for each activity
• Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes for each activity
• Space: An average-sized space or room
• Equipment: Access to a computer and printer, use of a copy machine (in some cases, a color copier)
• Materials: Flipchart paper and markers, as well as standard items such as paper, pens/pencils and art supplies (see detailed list at the start of each activity)
• Staff: One staff member or facilitator
• Background: No prior knowledge of the topic is needed. However, additional resources are suggested if you would like more information on a specific topic

Fostering Group Unity

In order for a group to work together effectively, members need to believe that the environment is emotionally supportive and safe. By creating group agreements (or ground rules), members have a shared vision for their time together – even if it’s for just one activity – and feel emotionally supported by other members. Before implementing any activity, it is important to take time to help youth to create guidelines. Ask group members these questions to guide them in making a group agreement:

• How do we want to feel during our time together?
• What behaviors and actions will we agree to so we can all feel this way?
• What will we do if there is a conflict in the group?

One way to do this is to ask each question individually. For each question, have each youth write five responses on separate Post-it notes, and stick them on a flipchart page. You can review the responses to each question as a group and decide on the top five responses shared by group members. Once you have identified the top five group responses to each question, post them on a single flipchart page and post it in a place where members can see it every time they participate in one of the activities. At the start of each activity, you can briefly review the group agreements for returning members and members new to the group.

Service-Project Opportunities

The activities themselves introduce youth to important leadership and service topics, but any one of the activities can be extended into an ongoing service-learning project. At the end of each activity, suggestions and links are provided to get you started on developing a relevant and engaging project.

By using BGCA’s innovative program guide Teens Take the Lead as a resource, you can help youth design and implement projects of interest based on the topics explored in these activities. Teens Take the Lead shows youth a step-by-step process to help them discover their passion, identify a problem or need, and create a project to address the issue they have identified. The guide is available on BGCA.net.